1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cabinets and, more particularly, to a cover member for concealing adjoining end sections of front face portions of an appliance cabinet.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In constructing a cabinet, particularly a refrigerator cabinet, it is highly desirable to minimize the weight of the cabinet shell to reduce manufacturing, transportation and additional associated costs, yet it is imperative that the cabinet be structurally sound in order to counteract loads exerted thereon without deforming. Mainly due to cost efficiencies and flexibility in workmanship, it has been commonplace to utilize sheet metal in the forming of most refrigerator cabinets on the market today. Since sheet metal is thin and rather high loads tend to be concentrated on the shell, particularly by the opening and closing of a weighted-down refrigerator door, a fair amount of effort has been applied in this art to provide reinforcement for such a refrigerator cabinet shell. Of course, an additional important concern is also the ease of assembly, as well as the overall aesthetic appearance of the cabinet.
With this in mind, it has been proposed to form side and top walls of a refrigerator cabinet shell out of a single piece of bent sheet metal and then to attach thereto rear and bottom walls. That is, the side walls and top wall are integrally formed by bending a single piece of sheet metal forming corner regions. Front edge portions of the side and top walls are in-turned to form front face portions of the cabinet. In most cases, each of the front face portions include end sections that terminate at the corner regions. With this arrangement, the end sections of the side walls adjoin the end sections of the top wall so as to define a gap or seam at each corner region.
Some manufacturers, in order to provide a more finished look for their appliances, install a plastic, cosmetic cover, such as indicated at 2 in FIG. 1, over the gap or seam. As shown, cover 2 includes a first end 3 having a pin 5 and tab member 7 that is inserted into an opening at the corner of the cabinet. Cover 2 also includes a second end 9 having a flexible clip 12. Once pin 5 is inserted into the opening, clip 12 is deflected so as to engage with front face portions formed from the top wall and a respective one of the side walls of the cabinet. With this arrangement, a central portion 14 of cover 2 will extend over and conceal the gap, as well as an unfinished portion of the cabinet.
In other cases, a cover is simply glued or otherwise secured to the front face portion of the cabinet. In still other cases, the gap is filled with caulk or another type of sealant. In general, just using caulking or the like is not considered to be as aesthetically pleasing as employing a cover. Unfortunately, repeated opening and closing of the refrigerator door can cause the various prior art attachment methods to allow the cover to become loose and/or fall off, exposing unfinished portions of the cabinet. In addition, flexing of the cabinet that occurs during fabrication and delivery may also cause the cover to become loose.
Therefore, despite the existence of corner covers for refrigerator cabinets, there still exists a need for a corner cover having a more robust attachment structure. More specifically, there exists a need for a corner cabinet cover having an attachment structure adapted to withstand the rigors of assembly, as well as the stresses associated with daily use.